ULRIKE REINHARD | DECEMBER 2020
THE BAREFOOT SKATEBOARDERS From A-Z
THANK YOU ‌ -
to Asha, Arun and Anil for verifying all the names. to all the photographers who left their marks. Not sure if I recall them all: Aslam Saiyad, Matjaz Tancic, Gaurav Prabhu, Cassandra Broadwin, Shail Desai, Arun Kumar, Patrik Chorge, Vicky Roy, Gabriel Engelke, Basumatary Tunu, Promod Saikia, Maninder Singh, Sandeep Dhopate, Manan Kathuria and Divy Bhagia.
INSTEAD OF AN INTRODUCTION …. I wanted to do this for a long time - now it’s finally done: A collection of all the photos we have of our Barefoot Skateboarders in Janwaar. I am sure there are more kids in the village who are skateboarding, we just haven’t captured each and everyone of them on a picture yet – so this will remain an ongoing endeavour :-)
movements, walking, playing etc., they seemed to lack a sense of self-esteem. These photos show children who are happy, full of joy, expressing in their posture self-confidence and freedom. There is a sense of purpose about them that leaps out of the pages, no longer victims, but individuals with a future and a purpose, even the youngest.
Over all, there are 250 kids in the village - more than half you can see here. It’s colourful and it provides an insight into the village and its youngest inhabitants.
You gave them the lifeline. I remember well our conversation in the hotel lobby in Hannover. Your absolute conviction that any changes needed to grow organically, and not change their lives to different ones, but change the way they live, and think, about their existing lives to improve life for the entire village. They grasped the lifeline with both hands, listened, and little by little understood what changes they could make, step by step. You set them free from poverty, not of material things, but the poverty of their minds, poverty of aspiration and ambition. Now they are rich in realising what they can achieve and already inspiring the youngest to imagine things differently.“
When I sent out the first version to the members of our charity, Nicola Claire, who was in Janwaar just after the first skatepark was opened in 2015, replied the following to me – it made me smile and somehow proud :-) “What I see in those photos is a long way from what I saw six years ago. Then I met a group of rather bedraggled looking children, who had a listlessness about them. In their
AARTI
ABHILASHA
AJAY
AJAY
AJEET
AKASH
ALFRED
AMAN
AMAR
AMIT
ANIKESH
ANIL KUMAR
ANJALI (LEFT)
ANKAT
ANKIT
ANKUSH
ARADHNA
ARJUN
ARUN
ARUN
ASHA
ASHARAM
BAATU
BABU
BALIRAM (LEFT)
BARELAL (RIGHT)
BHAJNA
BHOLA
BOBBY ()
BRAJBHAN
BRAJENDRA
BRIJESH
BRIJESH
BRIJESH (CENTER FRONT)
CHANDINI
CHAHANA
CHOTTU
CHHOTU, SANJANA AND JYOTI (RIGHT TO LEFT)
DAWID
DEEPA
DEEPANSHI (RIGHT)
DEEPAK
DEEPAK
DILASHA
DIPEN
DURGHA
DURGHA
GOPAL
GURIYA
GUDDU
GYANSHAN
HASIN
INDRAJEET
JAYANTI
JYOTI (RIGHT, LEFT: PRARTHANA)
KAJAL (BACK SEAT)
KAYAL
KALPNA
KARAN
KARAN
KESURAM
LABBU
LAKSHMI
LALLU
LAVKUSH
LAVKUSH
LOKENDRA
“MADAME” BALLOO
“MADAME” BALLOO (BACKSIDE)
MAHDI (RIGHT)
MASTRAM
MEHANDI
MOHAN
MOHAT
MOHINI
MOHINI (LEFT)
MOHIT
MONU
MUNNU
NEHA
NISHA
NISHAN (LEFT)
PANBAI
PANCHWATI
PARAM
PAVAN
POORTI
PRARTHANA
PREM
PRIYANKA
PRIYANKA
PRIYANKA (LEFT)
PUSHPENDRA
RAHUL
RAJ
RAJA (RIGHT)
RAJA
RAJA
RAJARAM
RAJJAN
RAKCHHAK
RAMCHAMELI
RAMJI
RAMKESH (UPPER LEFT)
RAMLAKHAN
RAVITA
ROHIT
ROHIT (BACK)
ROSHNI
SACHIN
SACHIN
SADHNA
SADHNA
SAMEEP
SANDEEP
SATYAM
SELEN
SEPI
SHANTI
SHEELKUMARI
SHILPI
SHIVRAJ
SHRADDA
SHOHIT
SONU
SUKARTI
SUKHMILA
SUMAN
SUMAN
SUMIT
SUNNY
THOKIYA
VEERE (RIGHT)
VINAY
VISHNU
TO BE CONTINUED … :-)
Asha Gond (Hindi) | +91 91713 74294 | asha.gond99@gmail.com Ulrike Reinhard (English / German) | +91 9752696409. | hello@rural-changemakers.com